Lifestyle

African fabric popularly known as ‘Ankara’ is no longer the wear for the poor. It is now worn by fashion freaks, the rich and the poor within and outside Africa

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  May 13, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

AFRICAN fabric, fondly called Ankara in Nigeria, now enjoy a huge patronage among women and men. They have become clothes of choice for fashion freaks, who want to wear stylishly designed clothes and who do not repeat clothes too often. They are cheap and come in good colours.

Mama Ayo, a fashion designer said she is in love with Ankara and can use it to make anything that would enable her customers look attractive. “Ankara has gone international, it’s been worn by both the rich and the poor. You can use it in different styles of modern designs. Ankara is now being made into beach shorts, pants, playsuits and evening dresses. Other Ankara accessories include bangles, slippers, purses, earrings, shoes, belts and rings,” she said.

Isioma Ogana, a businesswoman is one of such women that love Ankara. She said she can go to any length to look beautiful in them. “I love Ankara fabrics. They are attractive and colourful. They come in assorted designs and are not monotonous,” she said. Titilope Kolawole is yet another of such women who do not take their eyes off the colourful Ankara fabrics. “The colourful and intricate designs give a graceful appearance to women. I love them,” she said.

Ogana and Kolawole are among millions of African women who have helped to make Ankara popular today and caused a decline in the taste for foreign fabrics. Before now, Ankara was only popular among the middle-aged and old people. That has changed; it is now the clothes of the young. The young and fashionable now make several trendy outfits from them.

Nkechi Eloka, a teacher, said she loves using the fabrics because they are elegant and comfortable for our kind of weather. She said that in the Nigerian market, the price of Ankara ranges from N1000 to N2000 depending on what the buyer can afford. There are a wide range of designs and colour combinations to choose from.

The Ankara in today’s fashion trend is versatile and this has made it very acceptable among people from different works of like. This is very unlike the times past when Ankara was mainly used as a wrapper by native women and relatively poor people. But that is now history. Ankara is no longer limited to dressmaking. During the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, the fabric was widely used by local fans and this was appreciated by the global community. Indeed, the exotic fabrics were a sight to behold, portraying the creative and rich culture of Africa as a whole.

Ankara was named after the Turkish people from Ankarra in Turkey who produced a cheap version of the high quality Dutch Wax. This made it affordable for those who could not afford the price of the Dutch Wax. In other parts of Africa, the Ankara has been widely adopted. In East Africa, the fabric is known as Kanga and in Zambia and Southern Africa, it is called Chitenge or Kitenge.

Although fashion in Nigeria and all over the world is dynamic, the Ankara fabric has been able to stand the test of time and has come to stay. To remain trendy, flamboyant and add colour to your wardrobe, the Ankara must rank among your first choice of fabrics.

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